Skinny girls bring in the dough

kris kieper

Thursday

Jun 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2011 at 7:55 PM

I have caught flak before for saying, and even writing in a blog, that a woman's appearance matters, that we are often still judged by how we look and not necessarily on our skill-set, intelligence or accomplishments. I've never liked it anymore than the next woman, but in my experience it's reality, and many of us play the game to keep ahead. Now, research backs up that belief and proves that I wasn't off base.

A recently published study from the London Business School and University of Florida confirms that if you are a woman who happens to be blessed with "thin genes", or at least a great metabolism that with a good workout routine keeps you svelte, chance are you probably earn more than your "weightier" female counterparts. In fact, the study reports that "thin" women earn approximately $7,000 more than their average sized peers while "very thin" women earn as much as $22,000 more. "Gaining weight is more damaging to women’s earnings than to men. “For women, increases in weight have negative linear effects on pay, but the negative effects are stronger at below-average than at above-average weight levels.”

"Whereas women are punished for any weight gain, very thin women receive the most severe punishment for their first few pounds of weight gain. This finding is consistent with research showing that the media’s depiction of an unrealistically thin female ideal leads people to see this ideal as normative, expected, and central to female attractiveness.”Cultural expectations of thinness have increased the number of women and girls suffering from eating disorders and employing any number of dangerous techniques to become thin. In the same light, overweight people, especially women, are seen as being less disciplined, motivated, extroverted and generally less desirable. Even though these stereotypes are inaccurate, employers in the study indicated that they viewed obese employees as lazy and lacking in self-discipline.

Men, on the other hand, aren't held to the same standard of thinness; men who are deemed too skinny are derided and seen as weak and sneaky. Men don't appear to be penalized for their weight gain until they are deemed obese, at which point their earnings reflect a negative impact. While heavier men are said to be "stocky", women are referred to as fat. Clearly, the media projects a different standard of thin for men - they aren't the proverbial size four that women are supposed to strive for.

The celebrated "thin" today is much smaller than the "thin" of 20 years ago or more. Look at decades past pin-up girls, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor; beautiful and sexy women who today would be considered above average in weight, heavy even. Our cultural body image has become so skewed that women who have perfectly healthy waistlines and figures are being told daily in the media that they are overweight - they haven't achieved the coveted thinness.

Obesity is a problem in our country, but we need to be careful how we approach this conversation with our daughters and sons. While this study demonstrates that our appearance impacts how we are perceived by society and employers, it also shows us how important it is to talk with our daughters, to help them understand that the culturally promoted thinness isn't healthy for everyone and isn't the pathway to happiness or success. It's more important to have inner beauty, health, intelligence and a personal pride that will carry you through whatever life throws at you.

I have caught flak before for saying, and even writing in a blog, that a woman's appearance matters, that we are often still judged by how we look and not necessarily on our skill-set, intelligence or accomplishments. I've never liked it anymore than the next woman, but in my experience it's reality, and many of us play the game to keep ahead. Now, research backs up that belief and proves that I wasn't off base.

A recently published study from the London Business School and University of Florida confirms that if you are a woman who happens to be blessed with "thin genes", or at least a great metabolism that with a good workout routine keeps you svelte, chance are you probably earn more than your "weightier" female counterparts. In fact, the study reports that "thin" women earn approximately $7,000 more than their average sized peers while "very thin" women earn as much as $22,000 more. "Gaining weight is more damaging to women’s earnings than to men. “For women, increases in weight have negative linear effects on pay, but the negative effects are stronger at below-average than at above-average weight levels.”

"Whereas women are punished for any weight gain, very thin women receive the most severe punishment for their first few pounds of weight gain. This finding is consistent with research showing that the media’s depiction of an unrealistically thin female ideal leads people to see this ideal as normative, expected, and central to female attractiveness.”Cultural expectations of thinness have increased the number of women and girls suffering from eating disorders and employing any number of dangerous techniques to become thin. In the same light, overweight people, especially women, are seen as being less disciplined, motivated, extroverted and generally less desirable. Even though these stereotypes are inaccurate, employers in the study indicated that they viewed obese employees as lazy and lacking in self-discipline.

Men, on the other hand, aren't held to the same standard of thinness; men who are deemed too skinny are derided and seen as weak and sneaky. Men don't appear to be penalized for their weight gain until they are deemed obese, at which point their earnings reflect a negative impact. While heavier men are said to be "stocky", women are referred to as fat. Clearly, the media projects a different standard of thin for men - they aren't the proverbial size four that women are supposed to strive for.

The celebrated "thin" today is much smaller than the "thin" of 20 years ago or more. Look at decades past pin-up girls, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor; beautiful and sexy women who today would be considered above average in weight, heavy even. Our cultural body image has become so skewed that women who have perfectly healthy waistlines and figures are being told daily in the media that they are overweight - they haven't achieved the coveted thinness.

Obesity is a problem in our country, but we need to be careful how we approach this conversation with our daughters and sons. While this study demonstrates that our appearance impacts how we are perceived by society and employers, it also shows us how important it is to talk with our daughters, to help them understand that the culturally promoted thinness isn't healthy for everyone and isn't the pathway to happiness or success. It's more important to have inner beauty, health, intelligence and a personal pride that will carry you through whatever life throws at you.

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